This invention relates to a lightweight load-bearing wall panel adapted to be either factory or on site pre-assembled before installation.
Generally, in known wall panels of the type described above, a panel body is reduced in thickness in order to minimize the weight, and reinforcement ribs are formed at peripheral edges of the panel body in order to add strength. These reinforcement ribs must be relatively thick in order to provide adequate strength. The resulting panel is excessively thick and tends to be easily cracked. According to this prior art, because of the excessive thickness of the reinforcement ribs, an adequately lightweight panel is difficult to achieve and is time consuming and expensive to produce.